The present invention was first described in Disclosure Document No. 463,256, filed on Oct. 7, 1999. There are no previously filed, nor currently any co-pending applications, anywhere in the world.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to urinals and urinal splash guards and, more particularly, to uniquely designed splash minimizing urinal design.
2. Description of the Related Art
The battle to keep public restrooms clean and fresh smelling is an everlasting one. This is especially true in men""s restrooms where urinals are present. Conventional urinals, with their small profile allow for the splashing of urine back at the user during use. This in turn causes the user to stand further away, thus causing the user to perhaps xe2x80x9cmissxe2x80x9d the urinal entirely. The next user, when faced with this mess stands even further back. It can be seen then, that this is an ever increasing problem that compounds itself during the use of conventional urinals. It is even worse in establishments that suffer from high, concentrated usage rates during a short period of time, such as schools, sport arenas, rest stops and the like, where it is impossible to clean them during the usage period.
Maintaining clean and sanitary toilet conditions becomes extremely difficult under these conditions. The wet floors also pose a liability hazard as well from possible slips and falls.
In the related art, numerous attempts have been made to aid in the foregoing problems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,851 issued in the name of Perry, U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,776 issued in the name of Sarjeant, and U.S. Pat. No. D 393,896 issued in the name of Wagner et al. disclose the design and function of a collapsible urinal and/or commode splash shield.
The following patents describe the design and function of a urinal screen assembly to help minimize splash back: U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,937 issued in the name of Davenport; and, U.S. Pat. No. D 258,472 issued in the name of Adam.
The following patents describe a toilet bowl splash deflector: U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,803 issued in the name of Gregorski; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,172 issued in the name of Gleichart.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,616 issued in the name of Morad discloses a non-splashing urinal deodorant block holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,672 issued in the name of Luedtke et al. discloses a urinal mat with upstanding baffles to decelerate a urine stream.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,563 issued in the name of Peters describes a hygienic urinal in which the bottom is recessed in the floor with included urine deflectors.
And, U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,426 issued in the name of Godwin et al. discloses a means for producing a water splash shield for urinals.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which urine splashing can be reduced or eliminated while using a urinal.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to indicate a device of the type disclosed above which avoids the disadvantages inherent in the state of the art. In particular, the device is to have wider sidewalls and a more concave frontal piece, as well as a narrow frontal profile, in combination with a mounting means disposing the device away from the wall.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved urinal device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved urinal device having wider sidewalls as well as a narrow frontal profile, disposing the device away from the wall.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide an improved urinal device that encourages the user to stand closer.
Briefly described according to one embodiment of the present invention, a splash preventing urinal is provided in which both the left and right sidewalls of the urinal are deeper and stand further away from the wall. The lower front portion is more concave and conforms more to the users body when compared to a conventional urinal. These two features allow for less splashing during use, thus allowing the user to stand closer to the urinal.
Advantages of the present invention are to reduce the mess around a typical urinal by reducing the splashing out onto the floor and by reducing the chance of the user missing the urinal entirely by allowing him to stand closer to it.
The use of the present invention allows for men""s restrooms to be kept in a cleaner, more sanitary condition, without the requirement of frequent cleaning.